Please help on Hong Kong to Guilin
 

Our family of four will be in Hong Kong in late June and would like to do an overnight to Guilin. Could you tell me what is the best way to do this? Are there tour companies that are reliable to arrange this trip for us? We are interested in doing this in the most comfortable way.How much is flying from HK to Guilin and how long will the flight take?
From what I have gathered there are no first class boats On the Li River, but are thre some that are much better than the others? And how do I find out about them? We will be in HK 9 nights. Do you think it is a good idea to do the Guilin one of these nights?
Thank You

With 9 days in Hong Kong, you can afford to go for at least 2 nights and 2 full days to Guilin, which will give you time to really see the lovely countryside. In addition to the boat trips, the area is very good for biking.

There is a Dragon Air flight from HK most days at 6:15 pm, arriving in Guilin at 7: 30 pm. The return flight would also be in the evening. Go to dragonair.com for info. Dragon Air is an excellent local airline and is a subsidiary of Cathay Pacific. It would be my first choice for flying within China. The website does not show a price, you may have to go through a travel agent, or call/fax/e-mail a Dragon Air office in Hong Kong, check their website. (Expedia is showing about $400 round trip on China Southern, I know that site is not the cheapest, also check for packages with Dragon Air on their website.)

You can also take a train, I don’t know much about this, others may have info.

For boats, I don’t think there is a big difference among the day boat tours. Other than a trip from Guìlín to Yángshuò which is best done by the bigger boats as it takes about half a day, I would avoid an organized boat tour. It used to be that you could hire a small boat with a captain for the day, I assume this is still possible. Try the main piers from which the organized tour boats depart and arrive. This is much better than an organized tour as you can make your own itinerary, stop for a picnic lunch, etc. You can also bike to many places, including the Reed Flute Cave, so don’t need to take the organized boat tour to appreciate the beautiful countryside. Your hotel can tell you about organized boat tours, also run a web search if you want.

Sorry, I just noticed you are going in June. One thing you will find in June in Guilin is RAIN in guite huge amounts. You might want to consider less wet destinations in SE Asia. Vietnam would be a lot drier and has some beautiful inland areas. Bali is also great in June. Both are a longer flight, esp Bali, but doable if you spend more than just 2 days. The east coast of Malaysia and the Koh Samui/south east coast of Thailand would also be good choices for June.

Airfare from Hong Kong - Guilin is about US$250 roundtrip. And you can have a HK travel agent book hotels for you. Non-stop flight is about 1.5 hours.

That is not cheap for an overnight trip, as HK tour companies have 4-5 day trips, including hotels, for about the same. And you also have to get a Chinese visa. (US$50+)

You can also save money by flying from the Shenzhen Airport, by coach or ferry from Hong Kong. But if you're only doing an overnight trip, that's wasting a lot of time.

One other tip: If you take an organized boat ride down the river, politely decline the food. If you check out the boats in front of you, you'll see that the water to wash the dishes, the food, etc, comes from the river. Not a pleasant thought. The trip, however, is totally awesome. Another tourist idea: Do one of those night trips to see the ducks fish. We did that---and were the only Western tourists on the boat. Mind you, it was a boat full of tourists---all Chinese. What fun!!!!